What He's Done -- Jacob Sooter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden, Kristian Paul Stanfill

 

It wasn’t really a surprise that the words these four songwriters would compose would try to match the passion of the event they were attending. Jacob Sooter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden, and Kristian Paul Stanfill were, in fact, being very intentional, since they were in Atlanta to write a song for the Passion Conference, coming up in January 2022. Their recall of that time and how “What He’s Done” emerged from their session together says as much about how much they were listening, versus what they were saying to each other in order to create this song. ‘It’s not about you and me’, they might say in retrospect, but about putting Him in the place He deserves. That’s their sense of how to make all other interactions among humans fall into their best places. Jesus didn’t get what He had prayed earlier (in the garden) to His Father to give Him, but look at how things turned out. What would we and history look like if He had avoided the mission He was sent to complete?

 

This group effort began in the months prior to January 2022 with just Kristian and Jacob sharing some seemingly unrelated information with each other, opening the door for a time when Anna and Tasha would add to the spirit of their four-part collaboration. It was a ‘real’ exchange, as Kristian remembers, in which he and Jacob were talking about their respective families and life in general. That set the tone, apparently, for an authentic exchange and reflection on what’s most important, touching Jacob first with the song’s chorus and title theme – ‘What He’s Done’. It was a ‘wow’ moment for the other three, who needed no other inspiration for a foundation upon which to contribute their own thoughts for the remainder of the writing session. God was there, they believed, giving them all they needed. They acknowledged the contrast with how some other songwriting episodes proceed; in this case they received, rather than worked themselves to create the lyrics and accompanying music. A baby’s birth might be the closest metaphor to what happens when a song like this one is conceived and given life. And, such a gift from Him needs no more adornment, no clever words added to make it better – just describe simply His act on the cross and what that does for you and me. This event’s unique nature and its import stands on its own, without a lot of flowery adjectives. It’s enough just to turn one’s eyes upon Him, and voice words like ‘bled’ ‘wounds’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘honor, ‘glory’, ‘freedom’, ‘forgiven’, ‘grace’, and of course, ‘heaven’. With the focus on the One who made it all happen, these songwriters could not leave out some of His ‘name(s)’ – ‘Savior’, ‘Son’, ‘God’, and ‘Father’ – so that our eyes would be fixed on this one who’s made life, and conquered death.  

 

These four songwriters were contemplating not only the Passion Conference’s upcoming schedule, but any Sunday morning that routinely arrives among a believer’s weekly activities. They reminded themselves and those who might sing ‘what He’s done’ that everyone has ‘stuff’ going on. It’s sometimes hard to leave all those other concerns at the door of a worship facility, but how’s it all stack up, compared to what happened on a hill and in a tomb 2,000 years ago? Re-center on those two moments. He’s capable of intervening for me, with whatever aid I find most needful in a troubling situation. But it seems that Jacob, Tasha, Anna, and Kristian are saying that what He’s done already proves that He’s the Almighty. How do you calculate the value of His death and rising? Let the Infinite One transform you infinitely.       

 

What He's Done // Passion feat. Kristian Stanfill, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden // New Song Cafe (youtube.com) (story between 8:10 and 12:00 minute marks)

Read some of the story here also: ‘What He’s Done’ Acoustic Performance From Passion Featuring Kristian Stanfill | Christian Radio

 

See here for image of Atlanta seal and its public domain status -- File:Seal of Atlanta.svg - Wikimedia Commons This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.

Never Gonna Let Me Go -- Jason Ingram and Kristian Stanfill

‘Take it all.’ That seemed like a key phrase that two songwriters settled upon when they thought about what they wanted to say for a song on this album that they and others helped put together in 2014. In order for someone to really mean what he says with those three short words, he would have to offer himself totally – an act of unreserved and complete sacrifice. That would be Passion – unlike what anyone else has ever lived, or died, to demonstrate. And so, when Jason Ingram and Kristian Stanfill were reflecting on Jesus’ passion – His great sacrifice for everyone – they must have thought about how he did that because of His unswerving devotion to those He created, that He was “Never Gonna Let (You and) Me Go”. (See the 16^th Century painting Christ Carrying the Cross here by El Greco.) We didn’t hear Him say so, but can you imagine what it was like when Jesus spoke to our enemy, with utter conviction--‘You cannot have them, Satan. They are mine!’? This day is passion’s culmination – Friday – when Jesus gave it all. Do you feel His grip?

 

The album’s name is Passion: Take It All, and that was the foundation upon which the Atlanta-Houston Passion Conference in 2014 built its message to young Christians that year. Jason and Kristian wrote, either individually or collaboratively with others or each other, four songs for the album, including ‘Never Gonna…’, with a very upbeat, celebratory kind of tune that testifies to how the saved can feel when they appreciate how much He’s done to complete our victory. And, that His hold on you and me is certain, results in an outpouring of thanks in its lyrics. Love is the engine, according to Jason and Kristian. His ‘love break(s) through..stone’…’breathes (into) my bones’…’reach(es) out to my soul’. This love also is‘calling…’, ‘making me new’, and ‘lifting me’. Is it any surprise that the Almighty God says He is love, through one of His apostles (1 John 4:8,16), and that this love can do so much? Just listen to what Jason and Kristian say this love overcomes: a ‘lost’ and ‘blind’ condition, ‘darkness wandering’, where ‘no life’ and ‘no hope’ permeate the environment (v.1). Medical doctors have no cure for a blind person, and have only limited abilities to revive the dead; and psychiatrists and psychologists can do only so much for the person who’s lost emotionally, someone without hope. But the Great Physician has the answer! That exclamation point is what Jason and Kristian might add if a musical note to express this existed. But, what they do instead is underscore with their lyrics the pivotal nature of love, by singing this four-letter word repeatedly in its various roles. Thirty times – is that enough to tell just how important this God-infused condition is? And, it’s so crucial to us understanding Him, that the word is not a passive noun in the song’s language. It is a verb, with potent action. Indeed, it’s so potent and alive, that it defied the death march that Jesus walked, and the cross upon which He hung, that passion Friday.

 

Jesus’ passion needs no more exposition from this blogger. What He’s done stands firmly all on its own. The only thing left for you and me is how to respond. He wants to give me an abundant life, one ‘to the full’ (John 10:10), and so it was no mere execution, no tragic accident that Jesus gave it all. Jesus Himself was preparing to execute the capital criminal that was menacing and killing the human soul. He’s knocked him out cold, condemning him to the Abyss, and finally to the fiery lake (Revelation 17 and 20). The match is over in this spiritual battle. The Bible’s last book says we win, if we join the love-natured, and Almighty Lamb. You can sing about never being let go, with the rest of us. Do you wanna be on the winning side?       

 

  

 

See here for information about one of the songwriters: Kristian Stanfill - Wikipedia

 

See here for biographic information on the other songwriter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Ingram

 

See here for information about the album on which the song appears: Passion: Take It All - Wikipedia

 

See here for information on the painting shown here, and its public domain status: File:Christ Carrying the Cross 1580.jpg - Wikimedia Commons.  This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.

 

Lord, I Need You -- Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves

Perhaps they were in or near Atlanta, since they were gathered to write some music for a conference scheduled to take place there. A clock (perhaps not unlike the one shown here) was probably nearby, even if it did not necessarily inspire what Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, and Jesse Reeves were discussing. But, part way through their joint effort, one of them suggested that “Lord, I Need You” was rather similar to an old hymn (I Need Thee Every Hour, by Annie Hawks – see Nov. 12, 2017 Song Scoop entry). And so, they drew upon its lyrics for some extra stimulation. How many times during a clock’s 24-hour rotation does someone need God? It’s really a rhetorical question, but if you asked one of the contemporary artists this question, he might just point you to something C.S. Lewis wrote. It was something that was pivotal in this song’s genesis, so much so that they put one word in the song title and within the lyrics that underscored this. And, then one of the authors put a different spin on that concept in one of the interviews, giving a nod to the older hymn. See if you can guess what that was before reading on…if not, enjoy the rest of this entry!

 

Matt Maher talked in two separate interviews about ‘Lord, I Need You’, and how it emerged as he and his collaborators prepared for the Passion Conference in 2011, and he and Kristian shared about the song in a third interview. It was written for college students at the conference, as Jesse Reeves pitched the idea of using the old hymn by Annie Hawks as a springboard for the new song. They all tried to imagine students sitting in their dorm rooms and struggling with the various temptations and other issues that come their way. Matt says the song has an even broader audience, and that C.S. Lewis said something that he thought was key for everyone in life: ‘…there’s a love a believer never outgrows, and that love is need love.’ Many people, not just young college students, find it uncomfortable to admit this, including when they walk into a church and hear a message that says they are not ‘self-sufficient, self-reliant, nor self-determining’. But everyone has to admit this at some point, he says, and it’s a confession that can provide reassurance and hope in knowing that God is there to help. He’s not leaving. The most moving line for Matt was ‘where You are, Lord I am free, Holiness is Christ in me’, and that every time he and-or others lead the song, it is like a reaffirmation of what they experienced when they first wrote it. Matt further says that he hopes people will go to God not just with their needs, but also with their joys, too. Lots of people want God in their brokenness, and there are lots of division and strife issues at work in people’s walks (in 2011), but they should realize that He’s someone they need in their joys too. We witness to others when we lean on Him in our joyful moments, and not just when we feel broken. We can celebrate that, and this is as much a powerful witness to others as when we say we need him when we’re desperate.

 

It is interesting that this part about needing God in our joy is not written into this 21^st Century song, but is in the 19^th Century hymn. Hawks’ refrain for one verse is ‘I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain‘, an echo of what Matt was saying about needing Him in our times of pleasure and fulfillment, too. Needing Him in all of life really just raises one to another plane, so that ups and downs of mortality don’t make one feel the roller-coaster so much – something that Matt and his cohorts seemed intent upon emphasizing in their own lyrics. A person finds ‘rest’ with Him ‘guid(ing) the heart ‘(v.1); and has ‘grace’ that overwhelms sin’s condemnation (v.2), and even more than that, it makes someone ‘free’ and full of His ‘holiness’ (v.2). Rest, grace, freedom, and holiness…that’s quite a package God gives you and me, when we are willing to say we need Him.   

 

Hear the comments about the song by one of its authors here (Interview # 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjJ9WaYCmVk

 

See here also (Inteview #2): Matt Maher - Story Behind "Lord I Need You" - NRT Insider - YouTube

 

See a 3^rd interview of two of the authors here: https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/lord-i-need-you-matt-maher/

 

See a review of the song here: https://www.thebereantest.com/matt-maher-lord-i-need-you

 

Public Domain status of the clockface picture: The copyright holder of this work released it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.